New Delhi: Air India has said that it has not detected any problems in the course of its precautionary inspection of the locking mechanism of the fuel control switch on its Boeing 787 and 737 aircraft.

The private carrier, reeling from the crash of its Boeing 787 jetliner in June, which killed 241 of the 242 people in board and an additional 19 on the ground, announced the findings on July 22.

The Air India statement noted that the airline has completed precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all Boeing 787 and Boeing 737 aircraft in its fleet. The Boeing 737 aircraft are part of the fleet of Air India Express, Air India’s low cost subsidiary.

"In the inspections, no issues were found with the said locking mechanism," the airline said.

Air India's statement noted that it had started voluntary inspections on July 12. It has also communicated the results of its checks to India's aviation safety regulator, the DGCA.

"Air India remains committed to the safety of passengers and crew members," it said.

A preliminary report on the crash by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau had said that the fuel control switches had almost simultaneously flipped from 'run' to 'cutoff' after takeoff. This led the engines to lose power. Discussions on aircraft forums online have shown how the locking mechanism works – it is designed to prevent accidental movement.

In uncertain terms, the AAIB report appeared to indicate that a pilot had a role to play in this – something that has been severely criticised by pilots' bodies and experts, while at once sparking discussions on a deceased pilot's mental health conditions.

As Captain S. Sabu, an airline pilot and member of the Flight Safety Foundation and Royal Aeronautical Society, wrote on The Wire, "In the case of AAIB, when they do not have pilots in their team who are qualified on Boeing 787s, the most sensible option would have been to include pilot representatives in the investigation."

The AAIB report had alluded to a 2018 US Federal Aviation Administration advisory to airliners, asking them to check the locking mechanism on fuel cutoff switches. On July 14, however, Reuters reported that the FAA and Boeing privately issued notifications that the fuel switch locks on Boeing planes are safe.

Following the AAIB report, the DGCA on July 14 directed airlines to conduct checks of the fuel control switch locks on their Boeing 787 and 737 planes by July 21.

Air India's statement on the locking mechanism having no issues, puts the focus back on the topic of the pilots until the full report of the AAIB is ready.

The union government has claimed in parliament that during the last six months, a total of nine show cause notices have been issued to Air India in connection with five identified safety violations.

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